Jude is already 6 weeks old! Definitely hard to believe! He changes so much each week that I am doing my best to take pictures so we do not forget. I need to get better at finding the time to also record the changes that we are noticing.
Changes:
Jude has been trying to hold his head up since the beginning, but just this past weekend Jeff was holding him and he was honestly holding it up on is own for a little bit. He is also now willing to sit against his boppy pillow on his own and just look around. He spends much more time during the day wide awake just taking in his surroundings. We can also put him on his play mat and he will observe and squeal at his toys. As far as sleeping goes we have made some progress! We spent pretty much the first 4 weeks up with him almost every hour. He would only sleep if you were holding him and we knew this was something we wanted to break. This started to get pretty difficult for mommy. No amount of "trying" to nap during the day would make up for the sleep either. Thanks to some advice from a friend, we began laying Jude down in his bassinet on his side with a blanket rolled up behind him. I keep a heating pad underneath the bassinet in order to keep it warm and I let him sleep with my shirt. With these changes he finally started staying asleep in his bassinet for a few hours. This past week I have started giving him a bottle at his 12 o'clock feeding and then nursing him afterwards. I am wanting to make sure he is nice and full before going to sleep. On average he will asleep 2-3 hours at a time in his bassinet and about 4 hours on daddy's chest. We are getting there!
I am now starting to try and lay him down in his crib during his nap times. He usually will only sleep for 30 minutes max in there, but it's a start! Jude finally doesn't scream and throw fits when we change him and bathe him. Of course, he still has his moments! Bath time seems to work better if we keep a warm washcloth on his belly. I love changing time now because it gives him a chance to look up at me and he is now smiling! He is especially in a good mood in the mornings and will just smile and "talk" to me for quite some time. I honestly cried the first time he looked up at me and smiled (5 weeks) and had to call Jeff right away! I also think Jude likes the women because he tends to flirt and smile with them more!
There are even changes with nursing now. Not only is it easier but Jude is quickening his time for how long he eats. Thank goodness for me! We are also just very proud of the fact that he can go from nursing to the bottle to the pacifier and with no confusion. I realize how lucky we are for this! On the downside I began noticing last week that Jude was spitting up A LOT after his feedings and would even make choking sounds. He seems to have reflux issues pretty bad so I have had to adjust and make some changes with feeding him. I try to feed him every 2 hours and do it with him straight up. I also do not lay him down for at least 10 minutes. Even when changing him I am trying to keep him on his side....not easy!
You can definitely tell that Jude is growing! He is so much longer that his clothes are kinda stretching on him. However, he is still a skinny guy so we still can't put him in clothes bigger than newborn size. At his doctor's appointment a few weeks ago he was 8 pounds 2 ounces and 21 1/4 inches long. We are also starting to have some diaper issues! I would say he ruins at least two outfits a day from diaper explosions! I tried a size 1 diaper last week thinking that maybe the newborn diapers were too small now. That was a big mistake! The size 1 diapers are way to big around his legs so you can only imagine what happened when he pooped after eating! So right now newborns it is.
On January 27th Jeff and I along with our families dedicated our lives to raising Jude in the church. It was such a wonderful blessing to share this promise with our loved ones. It was just another reminder of how loved Jude is and I cannot thank God enough for that blessing. Below is a picture of Jeff and I with Jude at the dedication. This was Jude's second outfit of the day. He ended up with a stomach bug that day and it continued into Sunday. Poor little guy!
Jude's dislikes:
I do not like to be naked unless it is very warm!
I do not care too much for my baths!
I do not like the car seat unless we are moving!
I am not a fan of sleeping on my back!
I really do not like to be left alone!
I get overly tired a lot and making sleeping worse!
I am not a huge fan of my bottle yet!
I do not like dairy so mommy can't eat it!
Jude's likes:
I like to be snuggled all the time!
I like to sleep on my side!
I like my swing!
I am starting to like my toys and books!
I like to be talked to!
I like my pacifier most of the time!
I am beginning to like smiling!
I like music!
